Et Le Navire Va: My New Post

Tuesday, December 4, 2012 – My New Post – Guider!

Well I have been in my post for about a week – it’s been going well so far. The first day was really hectic. We arrived at my house and unloaded everything off of the bus for everyone in my cluster. There are now 7 people in my cluster, including myself. There are two guys who have been here for about three months, my post-mate and another about an hour away, and then the four girls from my training group. One person had their stuff loaded back on the bus, and they were taken to their post (along with a bunch of Cameroonians going that same way). Two others shared a car to their posts. The fourth loaded her stuff onto three motos and was driven to hers. It took quite a while to get everyone moving. The majority of that time was spent with them negotiating the prices of their rides.

The street I’m on looks nice; it’s paved with big trees all along it. It looks almost suburban until you turn your head right or left and see everything from mud huts with thatched roofs to people selling beans and beignets. There are entrepreneurs everywhere. People selling food, building shelves and tables, boutiques selling cigarettes, phone credit, and powdered milk. Guider is a fairly large town, anywhere from 50,000-100,000 people. It’s hard to tell, and depends on how big of an area you count as part of the town. It’s weird when you walk around close to the center and there are still donkeys, goats, chickens, sheep, and cows walking around. I’m also only about a ten minute walk from my post-mate, which is nice.

My house itself is pretty good. I live in a compound with another family in it. I’ve tried to talk to them, but they only speak Fulfulde, a language that I am still barely learning. Our conversations have basically consisted of:

Me: Sanut (hello). Jamm-na? How are you?

Neighbors: Soko (thank you) Soko-jeu (thank you very much)

…And that’s it. I know. Thus far my charm is irresistible. Luckily we have a nice little copse of trees between the houses for some privacy. Our shared outdoor water tap gives them time to get a good look at me though, usually while I’m cooking dinner. My kitchen isn’t attached to the rest of the house, so I have to walk back and forth when I want to eat and all that. Kitchen, by the way, is being generous. It is more like a room with a shelf in it – the only piece of furniture that my house had.

I’ve already spent way too much money trying to remedy that problem. I spent quite a bit buying stuff for the kitchen so I could actually make meals. I spent more on food, an Internet key (which is slow as hell), plus the stuff I mentioned earlier (mattress, stove, propane tank, mat, etc.). The mat really ties the room together though. I’m actually kind of out of money at this point, just waiting for the next paycheck to arrive. I got an email saying that it should be here, but when I went to Garoua, it wasn’t at the bank yet. Luckily my parents just sent me money from them and my Grandma for xmas. I should be able to pick it up at Western Union in the next few days. Perfect timing too, since we have a big festival here on Thursday through Saturday.

I’ll write more about what I’ve done so far in Guider on my next post. This includes a bike trip to Larbak, protocol, market day, sports, and generally wandering around. Get excited!